York College
‘ofsted’
Macclesfield College soared from an Ofsted grade four to a grade two in just over a year. Principal Simon Andrews explains how. In February 2012, just weeks before I took over as principal, Macclesfield College failed an Ofsted inspection. The college recorded an overall grade four ‘inadequate’ for overall effectiveness and leadership and management. The […]
Opinion
And apprenticeships inspire high levels of ambition, confidence and eloquence says Matthew Coffey, National Director of Further Education and Skills This is an important week for vocational education. The Worldskills competition in Leipzig, Germany is showcasing some of the world’s best young trainees. They will compete for medals in 46 disciplines ranging from hairdressing to […]
The chief executive of North Hertfordshire College, Fintan Donohue, is to step down to concentrate on his role as executive chair of the Gazelle Colleges Group. Mr Donohue will leave the college, where he has been chief executive for seven years, at the end of next month. He said he had decided it was “the […]
News
The chief inspector is right: success rates are not the best way to measure FE. So why doesn’t he come up with an alternative instead of beating the sector with the same old stick, says Jayne Stigger Inspections under the new Common Inspection Framework (CIF) although rightly focused on teaching and learning, still quote success […]
Private training providers were overpaid around £20m last year by the Education Funding Agency (EFA), FE Week can exclusively reveal. Around 10 per cent of the EFA’s 2011/12 budget for private sector provision for 16 to 18-year-olds was not returned, even though it wasn’t delivered. A further 15 per cent — around £25m — was […]
The government plans to revise health and safety red tape to make it easier for employers to take on work experience students. In an open letter to employers, Ministers Mark Hoban, Vince Cable, Matthew Hancock, Oliver Letwin and Michael Fallon committed to ending bureaucracy that might have put employers off offering experience to young people. […]
Prompted by last week’s FE Week front-page report of bullying at the National Farrier Training Agency, Suze Clarke tells how students led the development of Middlesbrough College’s zero tolerance policy It’s a sad reality that bullying can permeate just about any human scenario — and FE is no exception. As the largest provider of post-16 […]
Ofsted chief Sir Michael Wilshaw has launched a scathing attack on the FE and skills sector, branding success rates among colleges as “palpable nonsense”. Speaking at Westminster’s Church House on Thursday, he reissued his call — originally made at the time of the education watchdog’s annual report in November — for the government to “shine […]
The former head of FE and skills investment at the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) is to lead a review of college governance. Dr Susan Pember, who retired from the civil service just over two months ago, has taken up the post of governance review adviser at the Association of Colleges. Her first […]
